Highlights from Marvel December 2013 solicitations

It’s almost Christmas in the comic book ordering world, so Marvel has released their December 2013 solicitations for our collective paws to (non-opposable) thumb through. It’s all about Inhumanity in the lead-up to Crimbo, along with origins, endings, annuals and returns.

As we have previously reported on several occasions, the next big event to follow Infinity is Inhumanity. Kicking off in a big way in December with Inhumanity #1. Written by Matt Fraction, it is now solicited to be illustrated by superstar Olivier Coipel (with earlier reports of it being Joe Madureira). Coipel’s X-Men will be taken over by the equally high-profile Terry Dodson. The Inhumanity fun isn’t just contained to this single issue, with .INH tie-ins found in Mighty Avengers #4.INH, New Avengers #13.INH, Indestructible Hulk #17.INH, Avengers Assemble #22.INH, Uncanny X-Men #15.INH and Avengers A.I. #7.INH. It’s a cataloguer’s nightmare! If that’s not enough, there’s also another tie-in mini-series from Matt Kindt and artist Paul Davidson called Inhumanity: The Awakening #1 (of 2). If you’ve been loving Black Bolt, then now is the time to celebrate silently.

Peter Parker (kinda) returns!

Don’t call it a comeback! Otto’s still here for years. Yet December will also kick off a celebration of Peter Parker by highlighting the character in Amazing Spider-man #700.1 through700.5. With mentions of Black Lodges and such, this seems like a Twin Peaks style foray into psycho Spidey territory? Well, it would be if this series hadn’t been previously solicited under the less sensational title Peter Parker: Spider-man. Of course, that doesn’t stop the slightly misleading solicitation from reading: “One year after his death at the hands of the Superior Spider-Man – PETER PARKER IS BACK!” The whole thing will be told as a retrospective sale, but hopefully it will signal a return for everyone’s favourite webslinger. First Blood novelist David Morrell will be kicking this off with artist Klaus Janson, with creative teams including Jen Van Meter and Emma Rios, Clay Chapman and Javier Rodriguez, Brian Reed and Sean Chen, and Kevin Grievioux and Lee Weeks turning up to give us a friendlier neighbourhood Spider-dude.

Second Origin of the species

Originally announced all the way back at San Diego Comic-Con in July, Origin II serves as a sequel (funnily enough) to the first Origin series back in 2002. In that series, Paul Jenkins and Andy Kubert explored the earliest origins of Wolverine. There we watched James Howlett, a sickly Canadian boy in the 19th century, turn into Logan, the man who would one day be the Wolverine and go chasing after wolves. The second volume will take place a few years after the first book, set just prior to the First World War, promises someone Sinister and the “secret behind James’ greatest enemy”. Even with the plethora of Wolverine books on the market at the moment (at least four solo ongoing books by December), there is something kind of exciting about learning more about Logan’s past. Plus, it also features a special Collector’s Edition Acetate Cover! How can you say no, bub?

Knights get brighter

With the Marvel Knight line back in business over the next few months with Marvel Knights: Spider-man and Marvel Knights: X-Men, the creative team of Joe Keatinge (Glory) and Piotr Kowalski (Sex) will bring us Mark Knights: Hulk. The solicitation promises a bit of fun: “An amnesiac Dr. Bruce Bannner awakens on the banks of the Sienne—and soon finds himself in a desperate race through the streets of Paris! Who is hunting him—and how are they both transforming into grotesque Hulks?” Hulk dans la belle France? Oui! It’ll be a bit of fun to see this amazing creative team let the jolly green giant loose in Paris, as long as they promise to leave the Rue Dante and its many comic book stores alone, along with those amazing macroons you can get from Ladurée along the Champs-Élysées. If he even goes near Paris Disneyland, corporate will have words.

Annuals come but once a year

Keep annuals until the end of the year? What a novel idea! A few books will be getting the annual treatment this month, including Avengers Annual #1 (Kathyrn Immonen, David Lafuente), Thunderbolts Annual #1 (Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, Matteo Lolli), and Indestructible Hulk Annual #1 (Mark Waid, Mahmud Asrar).At least the Avengers Annual #1 has a Christmas Eve theme too! Although what we really want to know is when we will see a return to the silly Christmas specials that used to pop up at this time every year, filling our yule logs with gingerbread and warming the cookies of our hearts. Imagine if Wolverine was visited by the ghosts of Christmas past over the course of a century or so. Or if Cosmo could return to the Guardians of the Galaxy as the Easter Beagle. (Wrong type of dog and season, but you get the idea). Someone should totally give us a job doing something.

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